WJPA Sports

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Nick Kurtz hit two homers and drove in five runs, Jeff McNeil also went deep and knocked in four, and the Athletics beat the scuffling Pittsburgh Pirates 11-2. J.T. Ginn pitched six strong innings for the A’s. McNeil went 3 for 4 and snapped an 0-for-20 slump with an RBI single in the second. Kurtz followed with an opposite-field homer to left for a 3-0 lead and finished 3 for 5. McNeil hit his third homer to make it 5-1 in the fourth and added an RBI single in the seventh before Kurtz followed with a three-run shot to left. Eight of Kurtz’s 18 home runs have come in June. Pittsburgh has lost eight of 10 to fall a game under .500.

Transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby will not play for Texas Tech this fall. He is instead planning to enter the NFL supplemental draft. That will end an unprecedented legal fight over the college eligibility of a player who had acknowledged betting on college and pro sports, including some wagers on his own team while a freshman at Indiana four years ago. The decision by Sorsby came exactly one week before the deadline to apply for the NFL supplemental draft. It was also on the same day the NCAA and Big 12 Conference had filings in different courts challenging a temporary injunction that cleared the way for Sorsby to play despite being declared ineligible after he acknowledged making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while in college.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The coach of Iran’s World Cup team says it was ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after opening its politically charged tournament by playing to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand. Coach Amir Ghalenoei didn’t say who ordered the Iranians to leave earlier than planned. The team had expected to spend the night in California. The Iranians’ World Cup cycle has been in upheaval since the U.S. and Israel began a war against Iran on Feb. 28.